


Burn to Dark

by heir2slytherin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fix-It, M/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), and im really really very sorry that its bad, i tried by best, this is very long overdue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heir2slytherin/pseuds/heir2slytherin
Summary: After Steve came back from the reverse time heist, Bucky was heartbroken. However, once he thought about it more, he realized that something about it didn't make sense. Steve would never leave him like that. So what actually happened?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 34
Kudos: 66





	1. The Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been in my brain for a really long time, and I never got around to actually writing it, but now that I have all the time in the world in quarantine, I figured now was as good a time as any. I've only ever written one chaptered fic before this, so this will be a journey for all of us. I really hope you enjoy reading it.

Sam could practically feel Bucky staring at him and Steve talking. He knew that he was going to need to check in on Bucky when the conversation was over. Steve seemed perfectly content with sitting on the bench alone, so Sam left him to his own devices and went to check on Bucky.

Bucky was just standing there. He hadn’t moved since Steve had gotten back. Sam saw one singular tear roll down his cheek. Sam took another step closer to him, and Bucky started to walk away. Sam quickened his pace, and Bucky just kept moving faster.

“Bucky, wait. Come on, man, slow down,” Sam huffed after him, but there was no turning back for Bucky. He went into the house and Sam followed him. He followed him all the way to the room Bucky was staying in, and he watched as Bucky ran to the garbage to throw up. Sam ran over to him. “Jesus, Bucky.”

“Sam, I can’t do this right now,” Bucky said, his head still in the garbage. Sam rubbed his back.

“Is this because Steve gave the shield to me? Or is it something else? Something more?” Sam questioned. Bucky just tried his best to steady his breathing.

“I already told you I can’t do this right now,” Bucky stated. “Please just leave me alone.”

“Yeah, alright,” Sam said, getting up. He rubbed his hands on his pants. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to talk.”

Sam was leaving the room when he heard a quiet “I’ll never be ready to talk about this.”

…

The next few days were Steve’s last, and everyone was aware of it. They all stayed around at the house because they knew there was going to be another funeral. Steve never once asked for Bucky, and Bucky never tried to talk to him. Sam could tell that they were both breaking inside, but he didn’t feel like he could push either of them to do anything. 

“Bucky, I really think that you should say goodbye to him,” Sam said, on Steve’s last day. Bucky’s breath hitched.

“He was selfish. He did this to himself,” Bucky spat. “Why should I have to say goodbye to him?”’ 

“Because you were his first ever friend. A century ago, and hell, a month ago, you were his entire life. I don’t know what the hell happened, but you need to say goodbye to him, or you’re going to regret it forever.” With that, Sam left the room. Bucky shook his head, wiped away any tears, and went to Steve’s bedroom.

Steve looked horrible, and it killed Bucky to see him like that. He was lying in his bed, looking sickly and small, the way he used to look when they were kids, but obviously he was so much older now. Bucky walked closer to his bed, and Steve smiled. It felt so good to see Steve smile. Bucky sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“Hey, punk,” Bucky whispered. Steve’s smiled widened.

“Jerk,” he said hoarsely. Something flashed in his eyes. “Buck,” he breathed, and that was his last breath.

Bucky didn’t say anything else. He screamed a blood curdling scream and began to sob. Sam ran into the room already knowing what happened before he got there. He helped Bucky out of the room as he sobbed. Sam knew the truth at that moment: Steve was waiting to see Bucky one last time before he died.

…

A few days later, everyone put back on their black clothes and prepared for another funeral. Sam told Bucky that he should do the eulogy, but Bucky wasn’t speaking at all at that point. He wasn’t really doing much of anything.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I’m very thankful that you all decided to stay to honor Steve as well,” Sam began. Bucky sat in the front row crying silently and holding on to Shuri’s hand for dear life. “Steve Rogers was the original American hero. I don’t know about you guys, but I grew up on all the stories about the great Captain America who helped beat the Nazis in World War II.

“I know that none of us expected to get a chance to meet Steve. He was supposed to be dead, but he got all these years back. They called him a man out of time, but I think that he was just being rewarded for everything that he did. He was the kindest, most generous, mort heroic man that I had ever met, He got all these extra years to help save the world, and he did it again and again.

“I for one am happy that he finally got to have his long retirement, but I am incredibly heartbroken that it ended like this,” Sam said, solemnly. “Steve Rogers was too good for this world, and I think that the world finally realized that. I’m going to miss my best friend, that’s for damn sure, but the world is going to miss their first ever superhero. Steve, buddy, thank you for all that you did for us. For everyone. We’re going to miss you.”

Sam finished, and as soon as he was done, he watched Bucky get up, hold his hand to his mouth, and run outside. Everyone knew that Bucky was obviously taking it the hardest, but they didn’t know what to do to help him. Nobody did, least of all Sam. All Sam knew was that he was going to have to work very hard to make sure that Bucky was okay, and he knew that that’s what Steve would have wanted.


	2. What Went Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve wasn't supposed to get stuck. That was not the plan. There was a plan. It was supposed to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another kind of set up chapter, and it's pretty boring I think, but you need background information. The next chapter is where it gets good. Hope you like it!

_The night before the reverse time heist_

Steve knew that he had to be the one to return the stones for the simple fact that he didn’t want anybody else putting themselves into danger. He knew that it could possibly be a one-way trip, and he didn’t want that for anyone else after everything they had already gone through.

Steve however did not know what else he was going to do when he went to the past. It was the middle of the night, and he was sure that Bucky was asleep, so he decided to go check on him. He stood in the doorway and watched Bucky sleep peacefully for the first time in so many years, and it hit him. He couldn’t go back to the past and not save Bucky. He couldn’t just let Bucky be tortured for years if he knew that he could put a stop to it.

The next day he pretended like everything was normal. He said his goodbyes to Bucky, and he could tell that Bucky was worried about him. He didn’t say anything though. He didn’t want to tell Bucky anything because he didn’t know what kind of repercussions that could have. So, he stood there as Bruce counted down and waited to go on one more adventure.

…

Steve was honestly pretty surprised when putting back all the stones went off without a hitch. There was one more stop he had to make before he could save Bucky: to see Peggy. Steve kept a pretty fair distance from Peggy’s house, so she didn’t see him. He didn’t want her to know that he was there because that would just hurt her when he had to leave. He just wanted to make sure that she was okay. She was more than okay. She was happy, and Steve knew that when he saw the smile on her face when she kissed her husband. Peggy was taken care of and happy, and that was all he could ever ask for. He could go do what he was there to do now: save Bucky in 1945 when Hydra first captured him.

Steve knew that the best bet was to get Bucky after he was already in the facility and then take him to Howard or Wakanda. Hydra could bring him back to life, but somebody else could reverse the brainwashing as long as he didn’t get to him too late.

Lucky for him, he knew when and where Bucky was being kept so getting to him wasn’t really that much of a problem. It was more of the actually saving him that was going to be difficult. He got past the first set of guards. And then the second. And the then third. Then, he could see him. He could see Bucky. He was so close. He was _so close_.

“Captain America,” he heard a German voice say from behind him. He turned around to see one of the many, many Hydra leaders there had been during the years. He wasn’t quite sure who this guy was because chances were, he didn’t last very long.

Steve tried to fight him the best he could, but all of the sudden there were a dozen more people coming at him. Then there was another dozen. And another. And another. And another.

…

When Steve opened his eyes, he was locked in some sort of cell with what seemed to be two-way glass in front of him. When he sat up, the guy from before came in.

“I take it you’re here to save your little friend,” the man said. Steve set his jaw. The man smirked. “We’re not going to kill you, Captain, but we’re also not going to let you leave anytime soon.” The man was pacing around the room, and all Steve wanted to do was rip his spinal cord out, but for some reason he couldn’t move.

“Oh, yes, you will see that your strength has diminished by quite a lot,” the man stated. “That’s a little sedative we’ve been working on in case _your friend_ tries anything. It will be injected into your food every day so that we can ensure you can’t break out. However, I don’t think that will be much of a problem.

“You are going to do whatever we say because if you don’t, we will not hesitate to kill _him_. If we tell you to eat, you will eat. If we tell you to stay put, you will stay put. If we tell you to torture him, you will torture him,” the man said with an evil smile. “Oh, I’m sure you hate that one, but, once again, it does not seem like you have much of an option.

“We discovered that you came here through some sort of time travel, and, trust me, we will be looking more into that. So, we understand that you came from the future to save your friend and head back,” he explained. “Well, you will not be heading back until the year that you came from. Now what year was that?”

Steve didn’t answer. He heard Bucky scream from outside the cell. “2023. 2023. Don’t hurt him please.”

“Alright, Captain Rogers. Looks like we have a long 78 years ahead of us.”

…

Hydra stuck to their word and let Steve leave in 2023. They also made sure that Steve wasn’t going to tell anyone what had taken place, especially Bucky. It wasn’t like Steve wanted to tell Bucky, though. He was supposed to be saving him, and instead he got trapped as well. What was Bucky going to think of him?

Steve wasn’t sure what was worse: Bucky thinking he was an absolute failure for not saving him, or Bucky being heartbroken after Steve had to lie about marrying Peggy and happy. Steve knew that Bucky was absolutely devastated, but he couldn’t do anything to stop that. He knew that it was likely that he was never going to see Bucky again before he died.

When Bucky came into his room, Steve was almost positive he was dreaming, but it didn’t matter. He needed to see Bucky, real or fake, one last time before he died. He let out his last breath and the last words that cross his mind were _I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, next chapter will get a lot better. Thank you for reading!


	3. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been months since Steve's death. Bucky was still a mess about it. Then, he had the realization of a lifetime. Something much, much bigger had to be going on here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is kind of where it picks up I guess. I hope you like it!

Bucky had been in Steve's apartment for weeks. Hell, he supposed it was his apartment now since Steve didn’t have any use for it anymore. He hadn’t stopped crying since Steve came back and then died soon after. The immediate hurt was enough to make him crawl into a hole and spend the rest of his life there, but the death, oh, the death was a whole different kind of pain. Bucky didn’t think he was going to see the outside world for a very long time.

Sam knew that Bucky was hiding out. He also knew that Bucky was going to need time. He still went there every few days to make sure Bucky had food and that he was still alive. He would peek his head in through the bedroom door, see that Bucky was still breathing, and leave. That was enough for the time being.

It wasn't until eight weeks after Steve's death that Sam decided that he needed to speak to Bucky. They needed each other; Sam was sure of that. He was also sure that Bucky was going to need a lot of help to get through this. Sam needed it after Riley. He knew this situation; at least, he knew the losing the best friend part. All the other stuff was new territory for both of them.

"Bucky?" Sam asked when he stepped into Bucky's bedroom. Bucky didn’t respond. Sam sat down on the bed next to him, careful not to touch him. "Bucky, when was the last time you were out of bed?"

Nothing. Sam wasn't going to let Bucky do this to himself any longer. "Bucky, please just move or speak or do something, man. Please. This isn’t healthy. I'm here to help you. I know you must think that I'm being a real pain in the ass, but I'm doing it so that you can get better.

"Buck," Sam said. That triggered something in Bucky.

"Don't call me that!" Bucky yelled, not moving from where he was under the blanket. " _He_ called me that. He was the only one who called me that, and nobody is going to call me that again."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Sam said softly. "Can you maybe sit up?" Bucky slowly, slowly sat up in the bed. Sam didn’t make any sudden movements. "I'm gonna go get you something to eat."

Sam returned a few minutes later with a bowl of soup. He was grateful to see that Bucky was still sitting there. He was taking steps forward, even if they were miniscule ones.

"Thanks," Bucky whispered. He ate his soup in silence for a few minutes. Sam didn’t say anything. He wanted Bucky to move at his own pace.

"Sam," Bucky said slowly. Sam looked at him. Bucky stared into his bowl. "Was I not enough? Is that why he did it? Was I not good enough for him?"

Sam didn’t say anything for a while. "Steve had had five rough years while we were gone."

"Please," Bucky whimpered. "Please, don’t say his name. I can’t hear his name right now."

"Okay, I won’t say it again," Sam stated. He could tell that Bucky was crying, but he didn’t mention it.

"I would've done anything for him. I was enough. I would've been enough. Why didn't he think I was enough?" Bucky asked. Sam didn’t have time to say anything because Bucky was already talking again.

"He killed himself to be with her," Bucky whispered. "He killed himself to be with someone he knew for a few days when he could've been with me. I knew him his whole life. I cared for him his whole life. I loved him his whole life.

"And, I know he loved me," Bucky stated with the upmost confidence. "I know he loved me because he told me time and time again. He loved me, so why did he leave? Why did he choose her when I was right here the whole time?"

Once again, Sam couldn’t get a word in before Bucky was talking again.

"I was broken, but I got fixed. He helped me get fixed. He knew that I was okay again, so why did he decide to leave me? And, if I was still broken, why wouldn’t he stay and try to help me?" Bucky asked. Then, he laughed bitterly. He wiped his tears away and looked at Sam.

"I know that you're going to say that you don’t know the answer to those questions," he stated. Sam couldn’t argue with that. "St-he. He wouldn’t have done it. He wouldn’t have left me. He wouldn’t have left you. He wouldn’t have left this world."

"But he did," Sam said. Bucky smiled a bitter smile.

"Yes, he did," Bucky said. It was all coming to him now. "Steve wouldn’t have done that."

"What are you trying to say?" Sam asked. Bucky jumped out of the bed. Sam stood up as well.

"Whoever made that decision, it sure as hell wasn't Steve," Bucky said. "We need to figure out what happened because I know for a fact that something is going on. Something is wrong here."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Sam asked, literally having no idea what to say.

"We have to go to Wakanda," Bucky said, already grabbing his things.

"Wait, what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! Next chapter will be up on Sunday.


	4. Evidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three of the times that Steve told Bucky that he loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter!

_July 4 th, 1934_

It was Steve’s sixteenth birthday. He and Bucky had always had a tradition of sleeping over each other’s houses the night before their birthdays and saying _Happy Birthday_ at midnight. This year was no different. The clock struck midnight and Bucky brought out the cake he and his siter had baked for Steve.

“Happy birthday, Stevie,” Bucky said sweetly, and Steve smiled at him. They both had a slice of cake, but then Bucky got an idea. He scooped some frosting up with his finger and smeared it on Steve’s nose.

“Screw you,” Steve said before returning the favor and smashing cake all over Bucky’s face. That started an all-out war. Throwing cake led to pushes and pushes led to tackling and tackling led to Steve on the floor with Bucky hovering over him. “What’s my present this year, Buck?”

“You want it now?” Bucky asked, his breath hitting Steve in the face due to their close proximity. Steve nodded not wanting to speak and ruin the moment. “I’m going to give it to you, and if you don’t like it, then that’s fine. I’ll return it no hard feelings.”

Bucky leaned down and pressed his lips against Steve’s. It was only a millisecond before Steve was kissing him back. Bucky still pulled away because he wanted to make sure that everything was clear.

“Did you like your present?” he asked, half smug, half nervous. Steve leaned up and kissed him quickly.

“I loved it,” he said with a smile. “I loved it so much that I think that’s the only present I’ll want for the rest of my life.”

Bucky picked Steve up from his uncomfortable position on the ground, hugged him to his chest, and spun him around. Steve laughed hysterically before Bucky stopped and their faces were close again.

“I love you, Bucky Barnes,” Steve whispered.

“I love you too, Steve Rogers,” Bucky whispered back before kissing him. “Happy birthday, baby.”

_1942_

It was the night before Bucky was supposed to ship out. He and Steve were at their apartment. They had just eaten dinner, and they were getting ready to relax and maybe go to bed. It was just a regular night. Treat it like a regular night, and maybe it’ll feel like a regular night. It didn’t.

Bucky sat down on the couch, and Steve snuggled into his side. Bucky could feel Steve shaking.

“Stevie, baby, please don’t cry,” he said, moving so he was sitting up and looking at Steve. He wiped away Steve’s tears.

“I’m sorry. I know we said that we weren’t going to cry, but it’s just really hard,” Steve explained, rubbing at his eyes. Bucky took Steve’s hands in his.

“Do you trust me?” he asked. Steve nodded. “I promise you that we will be together again. I promise. I promise. You have to believe me, Steve.”

“I do,” Steve said softly. He looked into Bucky’s eyes. “I believe you.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” Bucky stated, his own tears falling now. Steve wiped them away and ran his hand through Bucky’s hair.

“I’m going to miss you too, Buck,” Steve said, pulling Bucky’s face closer to his, “but, I don’t have to start missing you until tomorrow.”

“Oh, I love you, you little punk,” Bucky said, smirking before he kissed Steve.

“I love you too, ya jerk.”

_2018_

Steve’s heart jumped out of his chest when he got the call. He had been waiting a very long time for Bucky to be okay again, and he got on a quinjet to Wakanda as soon as T’Challa called him.

“Captain,” T’Challa said, when Steve arrived. Steve shook his hand. “He’s been asking for you.”

T’Challa and Shuri led Steve to Bucky’s house. Steve smiled to himself when he saw it because he never imagined Bucky living such a domestic life on a farm.

“Thank you so much,” Steve said sincerely. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

“You won’t” Shuri said, and T’Challa nudged her. “Don’t have sex too loud. You’ll wake the goats.”

“We’ll leave you,” T’Challa said, dragging Shuri away. Steve laughed to himself and headed toward the house.

“Honey, I’m home,” Steve said softly from the doorway. Bucky looked up from the book he was reading and jumped into Steve’s arms. “Oh, Bucky. I can’t believe I have you back.”

“Steve,” Bucky sobbed. Steve pulled away from the hug to hold Bucky’s face in his and wipe away his tears. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. So much.” Steve wasn’t sure if he should kiss Bucky. He wasn’t sure if Bucky remembered that part.

“Are you…do you still…are we…” Bucky tried, but he couldn’t form a sentence. “Is this what it used to be?”

“Yes, if you want what we used to have, then that’s exactly what it is,” Steve stated. “Is that what you want?”

“More than anything,” Bucky said before smashing his lips against Steve’s.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it! I apologize in advance, but the next chapter is going to be very short.


	5. Wakanda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There had to be a reason for Steve leaving, and Bucky was going to figure out what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short. The next chapter will hopefully be better and longer. Hope you like it!

Bucky and a very rushed Sam arrived to Wakanda a few hours later. There was no planning whatsoever. Bucky said they were leaving, he packed a backpack, they bought plane tickets, and they were off. Now that Wakanda was open to the rest of the world, there was no reason to take a quinjet.

Bucky texted Shuri and let her know they were coming. When they landed at the airport, a few of T’Challa’s guards escorted them to the palace. Shuri and T’Challa were waiting for them in Shuri’s lab.

“Hey, guys,” Bucky said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I need your help.”

…

After catching Shuri and T’Challa up on Bucky’s opinion of what happened, they began to think about some possible things that could’ve happened. Shuri took notes on a whiteboard. So far, there was nothing.

“And, he didn’t tell you that he was going to stay with her?” Shuri asked. Bucky shook his head. “And that would’ve been something he would’ve told you?”

“Yes, he would’ve told me,” Bucky stated. “He would’ve told me.”

“Alright, it’s okay,” Sam said, putting a reassuring hand on Bucky’s arm. “Is there _any way_ that he just left of his own free will?”

“No,” Bucky said angrily. He walked over to the whiteboard and grabbed a marker. He began to write things down. _Brainwashed. Clone. Alien. Hydra_.

“I’ll look into brainwashing,” Sam said.

“I’ll take aliens,” T’Challa offered.

“I’m all for clones,” Shuri stated.

“So, I guess I’ve got Hydra,” Bucky said. They all got to work researching their topics.

…

After several hours of research, they had found absolutely nothing. It was getting more and more obvious that there was no possible way to prove that any one of those things happened to Steve now that he was dead. It wasn’t like they could just ask Steve what happened.

T’Challa and Shuri helped as much as they could, but they called it a night after a while. They said they would help again the next day, but they both knew that there wasn’t a lot they could do for Bucky. Sam stayed and researched a little more, but really all he was doing was sitting there worrying about Bucky. He realized what a hard job being Captain America was because most of it was just taking care of Bucky.

“Sam,” Bucky whispered after a few minutes of silence. “What if he if he did choose to leave me?”

“He didn’t” Sam replied sincerely. He moved closer and hugged Bucky who was beginning to cry. “He wouldn’t have chosen to leave you. I promise. _I promise_.”

That night when Bucky went to sleep, he had a nightmare about Hydra. That wasn’t uncommon. Bucky often had nightmares about his times being tortured. Shuri did all she could to fix his brain, but she never could fix that. This nightmare was different though. Bucky knew that it was different, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Then, it hit him: _Steve_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I'm sorry it's so short. Thank you for reading!


	6. Torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve was trapped by Hydra, and they had the perfect way of torturing both him and Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like this chapter! Also, Happy Mother's Day! Make sure you don't spend the whole day reading fanfiction and make sure to spend some time with any maternal figure in your life.

Steve had to give it to Hydra having him torture Bucky was the worst torture they possibly could’ve give Steve. Also, it wasn’t like he could just _not_ torture Bucky. If Steve didn’t do what they said, then they would hurt Bucky even more. Steve knew that it was the lesser of two evils for both of them even if it did kill him.

“Rogers, it’s time,” a guard would say every day. They would let Steve out of his cell and into Bucky’s. The point of the torture was to make Bucky think that Steve hated him and used him. Sometimes, on the good days, Steve would be able to tell Bucky how sorry he was or touch him softly without the guards finding out. He didn’t know if that was good or bad for Bucky, but he really hoped it helped.

“No,” Bucky whispered when Steve walked into Bucky’s cell. He was strapped into the chair. “You’re not the real Steve. You’re not _my_ Steve.”

“I am real, Buck,” Steve said, walking closer to Bucky. He moved away from Steve, and Steve’s heart shattered. “I’m the real Steve.”

“The real Steve wouldn’t do this to me,” Bucky said. Steve moved closer to Bucky so only he would hear him.

“They’re making me do it, Buck,” Steve whispered. Bucky’s eyes went wide. “I’m so sorry. I love you. I’m so sorry.”

They were both crying as Steve punched Bucky in the face. Steve let out a strangled cry when his fist made contact with Bucky’s face. He punched him again, and he saw the pain in Bucky’s eyes. Bucky tried to grab Steve’s hand to stop him, and Steve had to try extremely hard to pull it away.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Bucky, please believe me. I’m so sorry,” Steve repeated a million times crying the whole time as he hit Bucky. This was _breaking_ him, but it was better than Bucky being dead. _At least Bucky was alive. At least you’re both alive. One day, he’s gonna get out of here._

“I hate you,” Bucky groaned, blood coming out of his mouth. Steve took a step back, tears streaming down his face.

“I love you,” Steve said before leaving the room.

He walked back to his cell. He kept telling himself that it was all okay because one day Bucky would get out, and they would have their years together one day. Then, Steve remembered that as soon as Bucky was himself again, Steve decided that he was going to time travel and leave Bucky all alone. All of it was for nothing. They were trapped. They were never going to have their life together.

Something snapped inside of Steve. He punched the two-way mirror that Hydra watched him through. It shattered. Steve was looking at all the Hydra guards, and all he wanted to do was kill them.

“Fuck all of you,” Steve spat. “You fucking sons of bitches. You sick fucks. You’re making me kill him. Go to fucking hell.”

The yelling continued for several minutes. Then, Steve heard a shriek from another cell. He looked in the direction of Bucky’s cell and saw that there was a guard in there with a knife to Bucky’s throat.

“Are you done, Rogers?” one of them asked. Steve nodded. “Pull something like that again, and we will not hesitate to kill him.”

Steve was trapped. There was nothing he could do. A part of him hoped that Bucky would forgive him one day, but an even bigger part of him hoped that Bucky never, ever forgave him. He didn’t deserve to be forgiven. This was all on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it!


	7. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky finally figured out what happened to Steve, and now he needed to figure out how to save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Bucky woke up in a cold sweat. Steve was there when Bucky was being tortured. It all made sense. Steve got stuck in the forties trying to save Bucky. Of course. Bucky should’ve known that since the beginning. Bucky jumped out of his bed and ran to Sam’s room.

“Sam, get the hell up,” Bucky announced, flipping on the light. Sam groaned from the bed. Bucky ripped off his sheets.

“Bucky, what the hell? What’s happening?” Sam asked, a little worried, but mostly pissed off that he was being woken up.

“I figured it out,” Bucky said. Sam rubbed his eyes.

“How?” Sam asked, genuinely curious. Bucky bit his lip.

“I had a dream,” Bucky said. Sam looked at him incredulously.

“You had a _dream_?” Sam questioned. “That’s all your going off of?”

“Technically, yes, but it makes sense,” Bucky responded. “Steve was trying to save me from Hydra back in the forties. He must’ve gotten stuck there. I had a dream about it, but it seemed so real. It’s like my memories are changed. He wasn’t in them before, but he is now.”

“Alright, fine. I believe you,” Sam said, getting out of bed. “I’ll get ready for the day, I guess. You can go wake up Shuri, but don’t wake up T’Challa. I don’t think you’re supposed to wake the king.”

…

About an hour later, Sam, Bucky, and a still annoyed Shuri were sitting in Shuri’s lab. Eventually, T’Challa made his way in, and they all began discussing how true Bucky’s theory was.

“You’re sure it wasn’t just a dream?” T’Challa asked. Sam looked at Bucky sincerely.

“I’m positive,” Bucky said. T’Challa nodded.

“I can check if you want,” Shuri offered. She finally picked her head up from the table, and Bucky looked at her. “You don’t have to agree, of course, if you think it’s too invasive. However, it will let us know for sure.”

“Do it,” Bucky said, already standing up.

“Bucky, you don’t have to,” Sam said, worried about him again. Bucky glared at him, and Sam backed off.

“Alright, lover boy, let’s go,” Shuri said, leading Bucky to a testing room. Sam watched them as they walked away.

“I’m worried about him,” Sam said to T’Challa who nodded in response.

“I am too,” he replied. “I hope this works.”

“It needs to.”

…

A few hours later, Bucky and Shuri returned to the lab. Bucky looked very refined, and T’Challa and Sam both looked to Shuri. She nodded.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Sam asked.

“I have to go get him,” Bucky stated, as he sat down next to Sam. “I have to stop him before he does it.”

“Bucky, I don’t know about that,” Sam stated hesitantly.

“I’m going,” Bucky said, not backing down.

“Fine, then I’m going with you,” Sam replied. “The last time we let one of our men go alone, he didn’t come back. I’m going with you.”

“Alright,” Bucky said, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop Sam.

“Well, somebody has to call Dr. Banner and Scott Lang,” T’Challa said. Sam left the room to call them both.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” Bucky said. “We were supposed to have a good life. We were supposed to have the perfect life. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


	8. What Should've Been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky was well aware that his and Steve's story wasn't supposed to end this way. It was supposed to be different. He was going to make it different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer to the end, but I can't just give you an ending that easily. You'll have to wait for it. Hope you enjoy!

_It wasn’t supposed to be like this_. Bucky always knew how it was supposed to be with Steve. He never actually told Steve, but he had been planning their future together since their first kiss. It changed many times, but the essentials were always there.

When Bucky was in the war, he imagined coming home after and surprising Steve. They wouldn’t be able to get married or have kids, but they would grow old together. Then, when Bucky was captured by Hydra, thinking of being with Steve one day was the only things that got him through it.

Then, Bucky finally remembered Steve after years, and all he wanted was to spend some more time with him. Then, he was in Wakanda, and he knew that something bad was going to happen, but he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Steve before anything happened.

This sure as hell wasn’t what he was planning for what was going to happen after the big battle. He expected Steve to give Sam the shield because Steve definitely needed a retirement. Bucky had just expected to be a part of that retirement. They would live in Wakanda or Brooklyn; it didn’t matter. They would get married and maybe have kids. It was just supposed to be a simple life.

Bucky didn’t know, but that’s exactly what Steve wanted his whole life. He only ever wanted to have a happy life with Bucky, and he fought for that for many years. Then, he made the horrible decision to try to save Bucky in the past, and here we are.

Steve planned it all out though. He would get passed all the Hydra guards, and then he would rescue Bucky like Prince Charming taking the princess out of the tallest tower guarded by the dragon. He would take him to Wakanda and hopefully fix whatever Hydra did to him just years and years earlier. But, that didn’t happen.

There was a new plan now. Bucky was going to stop Steve from doing into Hydra’s base. Then, they were going to go home and live the life they were robbed of in the ‘40s. Bucky knew exactly what he had to do.

“I’m gonna ask him to marry me when we get him,” Bucky said to Sam the night before they were going to save Steve. Sam looked at him with wide eyes and a smile.

“You sure?” he asked, grinning at him.

“I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life. I’ve wanted to marry him for almost a century,” Bucky responded. “His mom gave me her wedding ring before she died. She told me to make sure that the right person got it one day, and it was very obvious that I was supposed to propose to Steve with it.”

“Do you still have it?” Sam asked. Bucky nodded.

“Yeah, it’s at the apartment,” Bucky explained. “We’ll go save him, and I’ll bring him back to the apartment to propose.”

“Hey, leave the planning up to me on that one,” Sam explained. “I got a guy.”

“So you’re gonna help me propose to Steve?” Bucky asked, smiling at him.

“Of course, man. You both deserve to just be _happy_ ,” Sam said sincerely. “It’s going to be difficult though because which one of your best men will I be?”

“Me and Steve will just have to fight it out for you,” Bucky joked. “Thank you. I was a lost cause, but you never gave up on me.” 

“Well, it’s Captain America’s job to take care of Bucky Barnes. That’s what I learned from Steve,” Sam said. “We’re gonna get him back tomorrow.” 

“We’re gonna get him back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! Sorry not sorry for making you wait.


	9. Time Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for Bucky and Sam to go get Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time has finally arrived, but the story isn't done yet. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Bucky didn’t get much sleep the night before he and Sam were supposed to save Steve. There were so many thoughts running through his head. _What if Steve meant to get stuck? What if they couldn’t stop him? What if they got trapped and tortured by Hydra as well? What if Steve rejected his proposal?_ Needless to say, he was up all night.

Even though he didn’t sleep, Bucky was surging with excitement. They were finally going to save Steve. Even if they failed, they were trying, and Bucky could live with that. Well, Sam would make Bucky live with that.

“Sam,” Bucky said, waking Sam up yet again. “It’s time.”

“No, it’s not time. I’m going to get ready on my own time table, and you’re going to go talk to Bruce and Scott and figure out whatever it is we have to do in order to time-travel,” Sam replied, all while still lying in bed and not moving. Bucky continued to stare at him. “I’m getting up. Calm down.”

“Be in the lab in twenty minutes, or I promise I’ll leave without you,” Bucky stated. Somebody grabbed his shoulder from behind him.

“You’re not going anywhere without Sam,” the person said. Bucky turned around to see T’Challa. He turned back around to see a smirking Sam. “Dr. Banner and Scott Lang are here.”

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Bucky said before he and T’Challa began walking to the lab. Bucky was thrilled to see Scott and Bruce.

“Scotty, my boy,” Bucky said, trapping a very confused Scott in a hug. He patted Bucky on the back.

“Good to see you too, Bucky,” Scott said as Bucky finally let go of him.

“Bruce, good to see you again,” Bucky said, offering a hand to Bruce. Bruce shook it.

“Bucky, forgive me for asking, but we’ve met all of one time, and you said nothing to me. What’s with the sudden friendliness?” Bruce asked. Shuri laughed from behind Bucky.

“You’re here to help him get his lover boy back. You’re lucky he’s not kissing your shoes right now,” she joked causing Bucky to blush.

“Anyway, time-travel,” Bucky stated. Bruce began to explain to Bucky how the whole time-travel thing worked. When Sam got to the lab a few minutes later, it was explained to him, and both men had a decent understanding of what was going on.

“Suit up, Cap?” Bucky asked.

“I am never going to get used to hearing that,” Sam replied. “But, yeah, let’s suit up.”

Bucky and Sam emerged a few minutes later wearing the quantum realm suits Scott had brought them. Sam was also carrying the shield, something that felt both foreign and comfortable to him. Bucky smiled at him when he saw it.

“Alright, guys, so I’m sending you back Hydra’s base in 1945. You have to get Steve before he goes in to save Bucky and give him the extra suit and Pym particles that you brought. Then, you’ll all come back here. Got it?” Bruce asked. Bucky and Sam both nodded. “And do me a favor and don’t try to pull any extra shit like Steve. I’d prefer if this was the last time we did this.”

“Hey, Scott?” Sam asked, smirking a little. “You like the look of America’s new ass?”

“Of course, Cap,” Scott said, saluting for good measure. Sam grinned, and Bucky rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell Steve I said that. Don’t want him to be offended.”

“Steve will get enough ass admiration from me when he gets back,” Bucky stated, causing Shuri and Bruce to both laugh. “We ready to go get my man?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, man,” Sam answered, and they both stepped on to the platform.

“See you guys in five seconds,” Scott said. Bucky shot him a small smile. 

“Good luck,” Bruce said, as he flipped the lever. Bucky and Sam exchanged one last look before they were being swept away back to 1945.

…

Suddenly, Bucky and Sam were outside of the Hydra base in 1945. There was no sign of Steve or anyone from Hydra. They didn’t know if they missed Steve or if he would be coming soon.

“So, what’s the game plan here?” Sam asked. Bucky looked around. His eye caught on something in the distance. “Do we wait here, or do we go and see if Steve is already in there?”

“Steve’s right there,” Bucky said, immediately sprinting off. Sam followed behind.

“So much for a game plan!” he yelled after Bucky, but Bucky was already too far to hear him. He was running and running and running, and then he tackled Steve to the ground.

Steve tried to fight back, figuring that it was someone from Hydra. Then, he noticed that the person was wearing a quantum suit. Finally, he saw Bucky’s arm. 

“Buck?” Steve asked as Bucky pinned him to the ground. Bucky almost began crying when he heard Steve’s voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Stopping you from ruining the rest of our lives,” Bucky stated.

“What are you talking about? I need to go in there and save you,” Steve said, ever the knight in shining armor. Bucky smiled before leaning down to kiss him.

“Thank you for thinking of me, but I can’t let you go in there,” Bucky said when he pulled away. “What happens when you go in there is worse than me being tortured for millions of years. I can’t let you do that.”

“But, you’re in there,” Steve whispered. “I can’t let you suffer like that.”

“I already suffered through it, and I’m _fine_. I’m fine because I got you back. If you go in there, I’m going to lose you again, and I _can’t_. So, please come back with us,” Bucky begged. He shook his head. “No, no, I’m not even giving you the choice. You are coming back with us, Steven Grant Rogers, so help me God.”

“Okay, okay,” Steve said, leaning up to kiss Bucky. Bucky got off of him, and Sam gave Steve the suit and Pym particles. “You both have to explain to me what happened when we get back.”

“Oh, don’t worry, You will never be hearing the end of it,” Sam stated, exchanging a smile with Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it! The last chapter will be posted on Sunday.


	10. Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Bucky finally returned home with Steve, and it was time for Bucky and Steve to have their happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the last chapter! I hope you all like it!

“Five, four, three, two, one,” Bruce said, and Sam, Steve and Bucky were all back in Wakanda. Everyone sighed a breath of relief. “I seriously could not have handled that going wrong again.”

“Okay, can somebody explain to me how my plan went so horribly wrong?” Steve asked, as everyone looked at each other. “What?”

“Do you want to tell him?” Sam asked Bucky.

“No, I can’t relive it. You tell him,” Bucky said, sitting down in a chair next to Steve. Steve held his hand, and Bucky felt his heart settle back into place.

“Okay, so you went off on the reverse time heist, and you came back as an old, old man, gave me the shield, and told us that you stayed back to marry Peggy,” Sam explained. Steve’s breath hitched, and Bucky squeezed his hand. “Then, you died a few days later, and it was as tragic as you would assume.

“A few months later, Bucky was still a mess. He wasn’t eating or sleeping or talking. I went to check up on him one day, and it was like something exploded in his brain,” Sam explained. “He realized that you love him too much to leave him yada, yada, yada. So, we figured that something else had to have happened to you. So, we came to Wakanda and asked Shuri and T’Challa for help.”

“More like forced us into a seemingly unsolvable problem,” Shuri said, and Bucky glared at her. She held her hands up in surrender.

“Anyway, we were pretty much in the dark. You were the only person who knew what happened, and you were dead,” Sam explained. “Then, Bucky had a dream that you tortured him at Hydra, and everything finally made sense. You went back to save Bucky from Hydra, but then you got captured yourself. They made you stay there and have a cover story when you came back.

“So, once we figured out what happened, we had to call Bruce and Scott to help us go get you,” Sam explained.

“Happy to help, Caps, both old and new,” Scott said, causing Steve to smile at him and Sam to glare at him.

“Me too. I always kind of felt like it was my fault that you got stuck, so I was very grateful when I found out it wasn’t,” Bruce explained.

“And the rest is history,” Sam said. Steve looked around the room at everyone.

“Thank you for stopping me. I really appreciate it,” Steve said to the room. Then, he turned to Bucky. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible that must have been for you thinking that I left you. I’m so sorry, Buck. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were trying to save me,” Bucky said softly. He tucked a piece of Steve’s hair behind his ear. “You were being you. But, there’s no need for that anymore because you and I are going to take a long retirement.”

“About that,” Steve said, standing up and walking over to Sam. “I don’t know what old me said to you, but I agree with him. You deserve to be the next Captain America.”

“Steve, you really don’t have to,” Sam said, but Steve shut him up by hugging him. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Steve said with a smile when he pulled away. “There is no one I would rather pass the shield to.”

“Now, if you all don’t mind, I would like to take Steve home as he has a lot of making up to do,” Bucky said, grabbing Steve’s hand and dragging him out of the lab. There were a few laughs and wolf whistles.

“I am so happy they’re finally together,” Scott said dreamily. Shuri snorted.

“Me too, now they’ll both get out of my hair,” she said, as she began walking out of the lab. “Almost ten years helping those two idiots. My job is finally done.”

…

The next day, Bucky and Steve arrived back to New York. Bucky had put practically the entire engagement in Sam and “his guy’s” hands. He was really hoping he wasn’t going to regret that. When he opened the apartment door, he knew that he wouldn’t. There were rose peddles and candles decorating the living room. The ring box was on the coffee table.

“Close your eyes,” Bucky told Steve. Steve was confused, but he did as he was told. Bucky carefully lead Steve into the apartment and to the couch. He sat Steve down and got down on one knee with the ring box in his hand. “Open.”

“Bucky,” Steve whispered, eyes already filling with tears.

“Your mom gave me this ring before she died. We can get it redone to be more you if you would like, but I wanted to propose with the original,” Bucky explained, tears running down his cheeks. “I’ve always known that I wanted to spend all of eternity with you but being without you these past few months showed me that I need to tie you down immediately. So, Steven Grant Rogers, will you marry me?”

“It would be my honor, James Buchannan Barnes,” Steve replied. Bucky slipped the ring onto his finger, and Steve launched himself forward to kiss Bucky. “Who set all this up?”

“Sam said that he had some guy he knows do it,” Bucky said. He saw a note on the counter and went to go read it. He laughed to himself. “’Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes, Mr. Captain Wilson told me where your spare key was and told me to make the apartment perfect for a wedding proposal. It was short notice, so I hope I did alright. Also, Mr. Rogers, I’m happy to hear that you’re alive however that happened. Congratulations on the engagement, Peter Parker (Spiderman).’”

“That kid is something else,” Steve said, chuckling to himself. Bucky went back to the couch, and Steve snuggled into his side. “I can’t wait to have a normal, boring life with you.”

“I love you, but I know there is no way that either of us is ever going to have a normal or boring life,” Bucky said, kissing Steve’s head. “Just promise me that you’ll love me forever.”

“I promise,” Steve said, smiling up at Bucky. “‘til the end of the line.”

“‘til the end of the line.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you enjoyed it.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked it! This chapter is kind of a set up of what the fic is going to be like and the next chapter is also more set up. I'm going to try my best to update on Sunday and Thursday.


End file.
